


the devil and the deep blue sea

by Waywarder



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Aquarium AU, Aquariums, Dolphins, Fish Facts!, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Meet-Cute, WE'LL SEE WHERE THIS GOES I DON'T HAVE A PLAN
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:40:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27840001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywarder/pseuds/Waywarder
Summary: Look, Crowley didn’t have anything really against Pride Night. For starters, he was gay. Flaming like anything, even. But big, happy, in-your-face parties celebrating love and togetherness…Yeah, not as much his thing. Doesn’t really matter why.Also:“And what the fuck does being gay have to do with fish?” Crowley demanded, a bit quieter this time, as a new, already-wasted guest stumbled up to the bar and ordered two tequila shots.While tending bar for Pride Night at the aquarium (fuck his life), Crowley wanders off in the hopes of seeing some actual fish. What he finds is altogether more wonderful.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 229
Kudos: 409
Collections: Good Omens Human AUs





	1. tursiops truncatus

**Author's Note:**

> Song lyrics from "How Will I Know?" by Whitney Houston!

_There's a boy I know, he's the one I dream of  
Looks into my eyes, takes me to the clouds above  
Oh, I lose control, can't seem to get enough  
When I wake from dreaming, tell me is it really love_

“It’s not,” Crowley snarled under his breath as some bullshit candy-pink vodka sloshed over his black fingernails. 

“Watch it!” yelped Beez over the loud music as some of the sickly sweet liquor slipped off the bar and onto their shoes.

“You watch it!” Crowley shouted right back, angry at everything, angry at nothing. He took out some of his aggression on the cherry and wedge of lime he speared with the sword pick. Out of finesse, out of fucks to give, he dropped the garnish into the magenta cocktail and slid it across the bar with perhaps more vigor than it deserved. 

“Can I get an extra cherry?” the man on the other side of the bar hollered over Miss Whitney Houston. (How dare he.)

Crowley opened his mouth to tell him where he could go to find his extra cherry, but Beez grabbed him by the back of the shirt and tugged him away so that they could answer instead:

“Sure, coming right up.”

Fuck, was Beez playing Good Bartender tonight? He must have really been in a-

“What’s got you into such a snit?” Beez turned on him as the extra-cherried-man and his date ambled away, arms tight around each other’s waists. 

Crowley opened his mouth again, even stuck a hand in the air for emphasis, but… Fuck. He didn’t know.

(Okay, he _did_ know. He just didn’t want the whole bloody world to know what a pitiful prick he was.)

“‘S too sparkly,” Crowley fished for something to complain about. To emphasize his comment, he flicked a fallen bit of sequins off of the bar. As patrons came and went, more and more glitter was being left behind on their admittedly sticky workstation. 

“I’ve seen you in sparklier,” Beez raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Which, okay, also true. Get a bit of gin and (worse) a bit of hope into Crowley, and he could sparkle with the best of them. 

“Well, then, how about this?” Crowley countered, determined now to earn his bad mood. “What have these big corporations got to do with Pride? It’s disingenuous, isn’t it? They don’t really give a shit, do they?”

Beez shrugged and looked out over the crowd. “They seem happy.”

Crowley bit back a sigh as he turned his own gaze to survey the packed atrium beneath them.

They _did_ seem happy.

Look, Crowley didn’t have anything _really_ against Pride Night. For starters, he was gay. Flaming like anything, even. But big, happy, in-your-face parties celebrating love and togetherness…

Yeah, not as much his thing. Doesn’t really matter why. 

Also:

“And what the fuck does being gay have to do with fish?” Crowley demanded, a bit quieter this time, as a new, already-wasted guest stumbled up to the bar and ordered two tequila shots. His waist, too, had a strong, handsome arm draped around it, Crowley noticed with just enough bitterness curdling his blood.

“Fish can be gay,” Beez scowled at him as they poured the tequila. “Don’t be an arsehole.”

“I know fish can be gay,” (He didn’t.) Crowley folded his arms across his chest, frowning. “Maybe you’re the arsehole.”

Truthfully, he knew fuck all about fish. Which, in that moment, only made him hate this gig at the fucking aquarium even harder. He hadn’t even seen a fish since they’d gotten here for set-up hours ago! The bartenders were set up in front of some awful 4D theatre on the second floor of the massive place. And it was massive. The floor of the atrium must have been packed with close to thousands of people. Just humans, though. Not a fin or flipper in sight.

“Doesn’t all this loud music bother the fish?” Crowley wondered out loud. “Aren’t they trying to sleep?” 

Beez grumbled a reply as they wiped down their little makeshift bar.

“Hold up, _do_ fish sleep?” Fuck, he really didn’t know anything about fish.

“If you go take a break to ask someone, will you be less of a prick for the rest of the night?” Beez slapped at his arm with the dirty rag.

“I make zero promises,” Crowley answered honestly, but he jumped at the chance for a break from all of these happy, sparkly idiots all the same. 

“Be back in ten!” Beez yelled after them. Crowley flicked his fingers over his shoulders in a salute of acknowledgement, but, really, if he got fired tonight, would it be so terrible? 

Fuck, this aquarium was enormous. For lack of anywhere better to go, Crowley hustled down the staircase before him and instantly regretted it. He was shoulder to shoulder with happy queer drunks as far as the eye could see. He dealt with drunks all the time, they were nothing new. If he was going to be stuck here until after midnight, he thought it was only decent he get to see one fish. 

_Down to go up, I s’pose,_ Crowley squared his shoulders back and fixed his sights on a quiet looking escalator across the atrium. He pushed his way through the sea of partygoers around him and did his damnedest to ignore the soppy, lovestruck gazes of the couples clinging to one another like barnacles.

At last, he clambered up the escalator, two steps at a time. Escalators never went as fast as Crowley liked. Crowley always felt like he was sprinting ahead of everything else, moving too quickly, thinking too quickly, asking too many questions… 

The trouble was he never seemed to know where he was headed.

Except for tonight.

Tonight he was going to see a fucking fish.

Thank Somebody, the dim-lit hallway at the top of the escalator was as empty as he’d hoped. Crowley frowned as he looked around. He could see why. There didn’t appear to be any fish up here either. It didn’t seem like there was much of anything up here. The happy pop music seemed eternities away up in this hallway. 

Perhaps no fish, but possibly the perfect place to sneak a cigarette.

Crowley sauntered deeper into the quiet hallway. It was almost eerie up here in contrast to the loud brightness down in the rest of the building. Otherworldly sort of. Crowley wandered and wandered past the dark blue walls until the hallway opened up before him into a larger, still empty room.

Crowley shoved his hands into his horrible uniform trouser pockets and stepped into the room, feeling a little bit like he was walking into another dimension.

And it was still dark and quiet up here, still disconcertingly so, but he soon found he wasn’t entirely alone. As Crowley stepped into the space and glanced to his right, he discovered a huge tank of water. The water was darker than Crowley expected to see at an aquarium. Like someone had turned out the fishes’ lights. Did fish need it to be dark to sleep? 

“ _Do_ fish sleep?” Crowley asked again, placing a hand up against the tank’s window. 

“Oh, that’s a very good question!” out of the darkness came the kindest voice Crowley had ever heard and Crowley nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Fuck!” Crowley shouted, turning in an awkward circle, his back colliding with the tank’s window. 

“Terribly sorry!” exclaimed the kindest voice Crowley had ever heard. “I didn’t mean to startle you!”

Crowley opened his mouth, prepared for venom to pour forth, but:

The kindest voice Crowley had ever heard was attached to the bluest eyes Crowley had ever seen. And the softest hair. And, presently, the worriedest face. And the nicest-

_Jesus, fuck, get it together._

“Wasn’t startled,” Crowley murmured, straightening up his jacket in a hopeless attempt at the preservation of his dignity. “Just wasn’t expecting to see anyone else up here.”

_That’s what “startled” means, idiot._

“It’s the troubling thing about the design of this exhibit, I’m afraid,” the bluest eyes nodded their head in understanding. “Guests seem to think it’s closed or they don’t think there’s anything up here. If they’d just peruse the map before planning their visit, I really do think they’d have a more thorough and enjoyable time. Well done to you for persevering, really!”

The worriedest face Crowley had ever seen flushed a little pink there in the darkness. “But listen to me, nattering on. You had a question, didn’t you?”

Crowley, as usual, had a thousand questions:

_Who are you? Where did you come from? What makes your hair that colour? Is it real? Are you real? What are you so worried about? Can I help? What can I do?_

“Do they sleep?” Crowley gestured back at the window, fighting to keep the awe down in his voice. He turned back around to look. “What’s in here, anyway?”

The kindest voice took a step closer to the window. Even the faintest light coming in from above the water was enough to illuminate this peculiar man. He leaned forward and peered into the tank, his hands clasped behind his back. Crowley chanced a glance at the nametag on the pale blue shirt beside him.

_Aziraphale._

“Look up,” Aziraphale almost whispered, his voice something soft and reverent.

Crowley did.

He didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed them at first. They were _huge,_ bigger than he’d ever imagined. They also didn’t seem as quick and frolicky as he’d always pictured, just sort of floating quietly along near the dark surface…

“Bottlenose dolphins,” Aziraphale continued. “ _Tursiops truncatus._ ”

Crowley ignored what his insides did at the sound of Aziraphale speaking Latin. 

“They don’t sleep like you and I do,” Aziraphale went on. “Cetaceans engage in something called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep.”

Crowley didn’t understand what any of those words meant, but he liked that Aziraphale was saying them.

“What does that mean?” Crowley asked, still staring at the supposedly slumbering dolphins.

“Essentially, only one half of their brain sleeps at a time,” Aziraphale explained. “That’s why dolphins sleep with one eye open.”

“That’s brilliant,” Crowley said and he meant it. (Look, even surly caterers can be impressed by a cool fact now and again.) He stepped as close as he could to the window and cupped his hands around his eyes, trying to see the dolphins’ closed eyes. 

“It’s a bit hard to see in the dark,” Aziraphale admitted, something of an apology in his voice. “But believe me, when they’re awake, one can really tell. Very playful.”

“Don’t they get bored in here all day?” Crowley frowned at the thought. 

“Another excellent question!” Aziraphale replied enthusiastically. “Their trainers work very hard to ensure these animals have a unique day every day. They require constant enrichment, which trainers achieve through a myriad of methods.”

“So, they do tricks?”

Aziraphale’s nose wrinkled at the word. “We call them ‘behaviors.’ See, a trainer never tricks a dolphin into doing anything. They always ask.”

“Huh,” Crowley looked at the dolphins again. “Never thought of it like that.”

“And they’re not fish, you know,” Aziraphale kept talking, the delight to share evident in his voice. “Well, you probably already know that. Only you asked about fish earlier, specifically, so I just wanted to make certain-”

“Mammals, right?” Crowley cut in, eager to make sure this (fuck) handsome aquarium worker didn’t think he was a complete idiot. “Like us?”

“Yes!” Aziraphale exclaimed, actually wiggling a little bit. “Exactly right.”

“What else do you know about them?” Crowley asked. He knew his ten minutes were long past up, but he couldn’t find it in his heart to walk away from this kind, (fuck) handsome man, bathed as he was in the glow of light through artificial seawater. 

Aziraphale, it turned out, knew quite a lot. It felt like hours (Crowley was probably fired) that they stood in front of the window, watching dolphins glide sleepily across the top of the pool. Aziraphale talked the entire time, sometimes gesturing animatedly with his hands, sometimes clasping his hands together as though he were trying to rein in the enthusiasm. Even fighting against it, though, Crowley noted that Aziraphale seemed to practically glow with it.

With passion.

Crowley didn’t know if he cared about anything as much as Aziraphale seemed to care about dolphins. 

When at last Aziraphale seemed out of dolphin facts:

“What are you doing up here by yourself tonight?” Aziraphale turned his attention from the habitat to Crowley. “I hope you don’t mean to tell me I’ve stolen you away from your friends on a night like tonight!”

_Steal me,_ rumbled a voice deep down in Crowley’s guts. 

“Erm,” Crowley ran his skinny fingers through his bright red hair. “No friends tonight. I’m, um, well, I’m here with the caterers tonight.”

He gestured at his stupid white outfit for emphasis, suddenly very aware of how embarrassed he was to be wearing it in front of Aziraphale. 

“No worries,” Aziraphale smiled at him. “I’m in uniform tonight, too.”

“No rest for the…” Crowley didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t be terribly stupid in that moment.

Suddenly, Aziraphale looked quickly to his left and to his right. When he returned his focus to Crowley, his eyes were serious, conspiratorial. 

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked Crowley.

Crowley nodded, immediately willing to go on whatever strange mission this man could set for him. 

Aziraphale fished into the pocket of his neat khaki trousers and revealed two tiny bottles of some vivid pink stuff. He presented them to Crowley with a bit of a flourish, his eyes fucking twinkling.

“Where’d you get that?” Crowley asked, almost as impressed at the thought of Aziraphale sneaking liquor into work as he was at the notion of unihemispheric slow-wave sleep.

“I hope you won’t find yourself much maligned, my dear,” Aziraphale smiled nervously. “But I might have nabbed them from one of the bars downstairs when no one was looking.”

He passed a tiny pink bottle to Crowley.

“Happy Pride,” Aziraphale lifted his bottle in a toast.

Crowley unscrewed the cap in a bit of a daze, longing again to ask:

_Who are you? How did you get here? How did you learn so much about dolphins?_

“Happy Pride,” he repeated, raising his own bottle.

They clinked tiny bottles and grimaced as they swallowed the sugary vodka. Some fruity nonsense.

“What was that?” Crowley shook his head as soon as the bottle was empty.

“Hmm,” Aziraphale investigated the little bottle. “Prickly pear, it says.”

“Ah,” Crowley replied lamely.

“I like pears,” Aziraphale offered.

_You like everything,_ Crowley already wanted to observe. _Pears, dolphins…_

_What else do you like? You could tell me about it. I’d listen._

How had he ever been so angry on a night like tonight? Nights like tonight were fan-fucking-tastic. Stolen vodka and sleepy dolphins and-

When the voice over the loudspeakers boomed out above them, Crowley nearly jumped again. Fuck, why was he so twitchy all of a sudden? One shot with a (FUCK) handsome aquarium worker and he was a bloody disaster. 

“Attention, everyone,” came the Voice From Above. “The aquarium will be closing in fifteen minutes. Please make your way to the exit through the gift shop. Thank you!”

So, Crowley was definitely fired.

“Well,” Aziraphale began. “I’m afraid that’s my cue to gently kick you out.”

“Right,” Crowley agreed.

Neither of them moved.

“It’s been a pleasure talking with you,” the words seemed to rush out of Aziraphale, as though he could only contain them as well as he could contain his enthusiasm for dolphins. 

“You too,” Crowley answered. “I mean, me too, I guess. I mean…”

_Fuck._

“It was nice to talk to you too,” Crowley tried again. “Aziraphale.”

Aziraphale’s eyes grew wide for just a moment before he caught himself and laughed. Fuck, his laugh was adorable. This whole body lit up with it, as though Aziraphale being even lighter was somehow possible.

“And for those of us not in name tags?” Aziraphale smiled at Crowley.

“Crowley.”

“Well, the dolphins and I thank you for your patronage, Mr. Crowley,” Aziraphale said, beginning at last to shepherd Crowley back towards the dark pre-dolphin hallway.

Crowley felt like he was underwater himself now, moving in slow motion away from this magnificent creature. His tongue felt too heavy in his mouth, everything around him felt alien and strange. 

He just knew that he didn’t want to leave yet.

_Ball’s over, Cinderella,_ whispered a snide voice in his head. _You’re definitely fired and he’s just being nice because he works here._

Right. Get it together.

“Night, then,” Crowley nodded one last time to Aziraphale. “Thanks for the drink. Promise not to tell the boss on you.”

And he went to walk back down the hallway. That was that. 

“Wait!” Aziraphale called after him. Crowley turned around only to find a bit of paper being pressed softly into his hand. Crowley flinched in surprise at the sudden contact, which seemed to only serve in increasing the worry on Aziraphale’s face. 

“Your next visit is on me,” Aziraphale said in a hurry, pulling his hand back as soon as the paper was secure in Crowley’s palm. “I mean, you didn’t even get to see all the animals this time, did you? We really do have a marvelous living collection and you should get to see them all and-”

He opened his mouth as though to keep talking, as though he could keep talking to Crowley all night, but seemed to finally out-worry himself. He shut his mouth and, with an awkward little nod and wave, he turned back away and disappeared around a corner behind the dolphins. 

Crowley stood still and watched his brilliant white hair disappear. 

_Who are you?_

After a long moment, he looked down to the complimentary ticket now closed tightly in his fist.

_Next visit..._

“Well,” Crowley said. “That was a thing.”

He looked back at the dolphins one more time before going down his own hallway, back down to somewhere like Earth. 

_How will I know if he really loves me?  
I say a prayer with every heartbeat  
I fall in love whenever we meet  
I'm asking you what you know about these things_


	2. entacmaea quadricolor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As soon as he was safely alone in the empty dolphin theater, Aziraphale knew he must have absolutely… oh, what’s the phrase… “blown it.”_
> 
> _“Oh, dear,” he said out loud, pausing to take a seat in the bleachers, bringing a hand up to his soft hair._
> 
> _His head buzzed with the recently imbibed prickly pear vodka and with the memory of Crowley. Tall, handsome, curious Crowley who had wandered up to the dolphin habitat on Pride Night, making even that ridiculous caterer’s uniform look positively dashing and-_
> 
> _“Oh, dear,” he moaned again, a bit louder, wishing he’d thought to steal at least one more bottle of booze._
> 
> In which there is the companionship of marine mammals and an encounter with some invertebrates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics from "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" by Whitney Houston!
> 
> Beta'd by the wonderful eveningstarcatcher.

_Clock strikes upon the hour  
And the sun begins to fade  
Still enough time to figure out  
How to chase my blues away_

“Attention, everyone. The aquarium will be closing in five minutes. Please make your way to the exit located through the gift shop. Thank you!”

As soon as he was safely down the hallway and alone in the empty dolphin theater, Aziraphale knew he must have absolutely… oh, what’s the phrase… “blown it.”

“Oh, dear,” he said out loud, pausing to take a seat in the bleachers, bringing a hand up to his soft hair. 

His head buzzed with the recently imbibed prickly pear vodka and with the memory of _Crowley._ Tall, handsome, curious Crowley who had wandered up to the dolphin habitat on Pride Night, making even that ridiculous caterer’s uniform look positively dashing and- 

“Oh, dear,” he moaned again, a bit louder, wishing he’d thought to steal at least one more bottle of booze.

First of all, Aziraphale liked almost anyone who was clever enough to figure out how to get to the dolphin exhibit in the first place. It was confusingly configured, after all; there was an Exit sign glowing angrily red in the hallway before one even found the dolphins! Aziraphale didn’t always mind the confusion so much. He always requested to spend his shift with the dolphins and not so much with people. 

He liked it best up there first thing in the mornings when the aquarium had just opened; when he was still nursing his tea and there was no one around but him and the dolphins and the early sunlight. Aziraphale had worked at the aquarium long enough at this point to know that no one ever figured out to come see the dolphins before it was time for one of their shows. So, he often snuck a pack of biscuits up to the exhibit with him and he’d sit on the carpeted floor before their habitat and have a lovely little second breakfast with his favorite marine mammals. 

His plans for Pride Night had been no different. He suspected the party goers wouldn’t want to stray far from their open bars and so Aziraphale picked the farthest-away-from-the-bars spot he could imagine. Nicked liquor secure in his pocket, he’d expected a perfectly lovely, admittedly lonely night of celebration.

Which was fine. Pride felt like a celebration for the young, for the beautiful. Not for the fussy, old aquarium docent with his sneaky tea and biscuits. 

Aziraphale liked the dolphins best because of their cleverness. He loved all the animals at the aquarium (“All creatures great and small,” he would tell you), but there was something about making eye contact with a bottlenose dolphin. Aziraphale admired their big brains, their graceful strength, their social aptitude…

On certain early, lonely mornings, Aziraphale would brush the biscuit crumbs off of his uniform shirt and long to trade places with one of the dolphins.

Where were we?

Yes.

Second of all, Aziraphale liked anyone who asked questions. He hated the guests who seemed… entitled to the animals. As if the animals owed them something; a performance, a show, their best behavior. As if their presence was not a joy enough. It’s why he always bristled at the bored question: “What do they _do?_ ”

 _“Well, what do you do?”_ Aziraphale always longed to counter. As though human beings were always so useful.

Crowley had watched Aziraphale and the dolphins as though he could have kept questioning and learning all night long. As he threaded his fingers deeper into his own hair, Aziraphale lamented all the dolphin facts he still had to share. All the questions he himself had.

_Who are you? Would you like to know about any other animals? I know a lot about other animals as well. Let me impress you. Let me make you smile._

Aziraphale blushed at the thought. He’d been too much with Crowley. Yes, as he replayed the conversation in his head, he wanted to sink deeper and deeper into his seat. A tall, handsome man saunters into the dolphin exhibit on Pride Night like something out of a gay fairy tale and you just ramble on and on and on? 

Yes.

“Blown it.”

A familiar chirp-squeak pulled Aziraphale out of his misery. He looked up at the huge, open pool before him (“1.8 million gallons of water, you know! Connected to four other pools behind the scenes…” he would have told you) and, despite his woes, smiled.

“Good evening, my dear.”

Aziraphale stood from the bleachers and crossed down to the window to properly greet Audrey. Audrey was a beautiful, juvenile female dolphin, currently turning idle circles in front of the pool window and casting curious glances at the forlorn Aziraphale.

“And a Happy Pride to you, too,” Aziraphale smiled. He knew he was a bit ridiculous, but he could never help it. The animals felt like his friends, so he found himself speaking to them constantly.

Audrey fixed him with her brilliant stare and, in the empty silence of the vast auditorium, Aziraphale could hear her trills and whistles.

 _What’s wrong?_ He imagined her asking. (The lady dolphins were the polite ones, after all.)

“Well, my dear,” Aziraphale brought a hand up to the window. “The most interesting gentleman was in here earlier and I’m afraid I rather botched it.”

 _How did you manage to botch it so fast, Aziraphale?_ He interpreted the next squeak.

“Oh,” he admitted, sadly, softly, only ever to a dolphin. “I’m afraid I was myself.”

***

Aziraphale strolled into the breakroom half a minute behind schedule the next morning, which was not his custom. Only, you see, well, he’d stayed behind in the dolphin theatre the night before feeling sorry for himself until the custodial staff came to kick him out, and then he’d found his way into a glass or two of nice wine at home before curling up with one of his favorite stories and and and-

He was late.

Too late to get his first pick of rotation assignments. 

He sipped his tea, willing the warmth and sweetness to bring something like life back to him, as the captain for the day, Michael, passed him a small slip of paper.

**SS Touch Pool.**

Aziraphale sighed. That’s what he got for being late.

Nothing against the sea stars and sea anemones who called the touch pool their home, but it was also probably the most challenging assignment to the aquarium docent. Begging crowds to follow the rules, to touch the animals gently, to be _kind._

“Treat sea stars the way you would like to be treated,” Aziraphale was fond of saying. And he quite meant it.

After the morning meeting (Aziraphale couldn’t tell you what was discussed; he was lost in memories of bright red hair and curious eyes), Aziraphale crossed the atrium in pursuit of the coldwater gallery. He entered from the exit, as he always did; eager to make a complete loop of the gallery and bid a good day to all the animals before he settled at his post.

“Hello, funny friends,” he greeted the penguins, the sea otters, the gigantic spider crabs.

Finally, he slipped behind the chilled, wet rocks of the SS Touch Pool. After arranging his tea so it wouldn’t spill into the pool, he placed his hands on the rocks and leaned forward.

“And good morning to you as well, dears.”

The sea stars and sea anemones didn’t have much to say in response, but Aziraphale liked to imagine they appreciated the consideration all the same. 

Aziraphale checked his watch and took a deep breath. It was opening time right on the dot. Soon his quiet little haven of sea stars and tea would be a mass of pushing, shouting humans. On these mornings it was much more of a challenge for Aziraphale to remember why he did what he did.

Still…

“Empathy,” Aziraphale whispered to himself. “We make changes through empathy.”

Because maybe someone had never seen a sea star in person before. Maybe they’d never marveled at feeling the texture of the creature beneath their own fingertips. Maybe the joy they would experience at meeting this animal in person would inspire them to make little changes in their own life, to recycle, to conserve, to educate.

Despite all the pushing and shouting, the world was a good place with good people. Aziraphale just knew it. And this is how he could contribute to that goodness.

By rolling up his shirt sleeves and turning his little microphone on and teaching the world about sea stars.

“Good morning, friends,” Aziraphale called as the first group of little ones and their already-harried parents approached the touch pool.

“What are they?” hollered the first tiny one, already jumping up on top of the rocks to get a closer look.

“Oh, my dear,” Aziraphale hurried. “Please don’t stand on the rocks themselves. They do get quite slippery.”

“Well, how is she supposed to see them?” snapped one of the adults in the group immediately.

“For the safety of our guest as well as the animals,” Aziraphale recited, panic boiling in his belly. He hated confrontations like these. “We do ask that guests not stand directly on the rocks. If you look to your left, you’ll find a little set of steps.”

The adult rolled their eyes and snatched the child away, positioning them now on the aforementioned steps. The child and her fellows all pressed their bellies against the rocks, craning their heads as close to the water as possible.

“Now, it’s quite chilly,” Aziraphale warned kindly. “Does anyone know how we touch the animals?”

The children all shook their heads, looking up at him with wide eyes. Aziraphale opened his mouth to further instruct, but he was interrupted by a quite unexpected drawl:

“Two fingers.”

Aziraphale looked up from the cold water only to find his own eyes growing wide in astonishment. 

“Crowley!” he exclaimed, immediately regretting the horrifying amount of delight in his voice. “However did you know that?”

Crowley, standing tall and handsome just behind the gaggle of children, seemed to flush a little at the question. 

“Says it on the sign, doesn’t it?”

It did and, _oh,_ a man who _pays attention to the signage._ He wasn’t wearing his white uniform today. No, he was clad all in black, looking impossibly sleek and cool, and he’d actually used the free ticket Aziraphale had given him, and-

One of the adults at the touch pool cleared their throat and Aziraphale flinched. 

_Right. You’re still at work._

“Our friend is absolutely correct,” Aziraphale turned his attention back to the children. “We use two gentle fingers to interact with our animal friends.”

“Why?” one of the children wanted to know.

“Well,” Aziraphale explained, happy to answer as many questions as they had. “One finger is a lot like poking and more than two fingers is a lot like grabbing.”

“Do they bite?” another of the children asked nervously.

“That’s a very good question,” Aziraphale responded. “The funny thing about sea stars is that their mouths are actually on the other side of their bodies! So, we won’t be touching anywhere near their mouths.”

The children seemed unconvinced.

“Would you like me to go first?” Aziraphale asked him, daring to dart his eyes briefly back to Crowley. He had sidled up closer to the pool now, hands shoved into his pockets, leaning down to examine the water. Aziraphale wanted to warn him about his sunglasses; what if they fell off into the water?

But the children were already nodding enthusiastically and Aziraphale had a job to do.

He presented his two fingers with a flourish before dipping them slowly beneath the surface of the chilled water. There was a great big pink sea star latched to the rock just in front of him, so Aziraphale gently touched his fingers against the creature’s soft, scratchy body and stroked softly.

“See?” Aziraphale looked up at the children. “It doesn’t hurt at all. Would you like to try?”

They all did. Aziraphale coached them through touching as many of the animals as their little arms could reach. He praised them for their gentleness towards the stars and anemones. He gave them a fond little wave as they scampered away to the next exhibit. He took a small breath and turned back to-

“Two fingers, eh?” Crowley asked, looking skeptical.

“Oh, it really is a magnificent experience,” Aziraphale assured him.

“They look like little alien beasts,” Crowley frowned, gaze seemingly fixed on one of the anemones. “How do I know they aren’t going to grab me and suck me down to the depths?”

Aziraphale laughed a little at that. “A valid concern. They are a bit sticky, you know, but I think you’re a bit too big to be on the lunch menu.”

“All right, then,” Crowley pushed up his own jacket sleeves and Aziraphale felt his eyes growing large again at the sight of his lean, wiry forearms. Crowley extended two long fingers and Aziraphale clenched his jaw as tightly as he could.

 _Don’t be strange, Aziraphale. Don't be too much._

“Fuck!” Crowley exclaimed as his fingers made contact with the surface of the pool. He jerked his hand back and looked back up at Aziraphale. “Oh. Sorry. Shit. SORRY. Didn’t mean to…”

“It’s quite alright!” And it was. It was still too early in the morning for huge crowds. For this wonderful moment at least, the touch pool belonged to the two of them.

“Why’s it so cold?” Crowley asked, hand hovering above the surface of the water.

“Well, these creatures are native to the northeast Pacific Ocean,” Aziraphale told him. “So, it’s quite chilly in their natural habitat.”

“That’s nice that you keep it cold for them,” Crowley grumbled. “Not a fan myself, but it’s nice for them.”

“We do our best to ensure the comfort of all our animals,” Aziraphale said, thrilled at the opportunity to share more knowledge with this lovely creature. 

“Okay,” Crowley let out a little breath. “The little kids could do it, so can I.”

“You can,” Aziraphale promised him.

Crowley’s fingers delved again below the surface of the water and sought out a vivid orange tube anemone. He hesitated.

“Where do these ones like to be touched?” Crowley looked back up to Aziraphale for guidance.

“You can touch the sides,” Aziraphale demonstrated, his own hands joining Crowley’s now in the cold water. “Or you can gently touch the anemones themselves.”

“Don’t they sting?”

“They do, actually! But, again, we’re so much bigger and our skin is so much thicker, we’re in no danger.”

“Hell of a way to start the day,” Crowley managed a little lopsided grin at him and Aziraphale felt his insides go a bit wobbly.

Aziraphale looked back down below the surface to watch as Crowley’s fingers slowly, softly, gently pressed against the column of the sea anemone. 

“It’s so soft,” Crowley marveled, looking down into the water himself now.

“That’s it,” Aziraphale encouraged him, his voice lower and softer than he’d meant it. “You’re doing wonderfully.”

“Gonna touch a tentacle thing…”

“Yes!”

Crowley looked back up at Aziraphale as his fingertips made contact with a swaying tentacle. “I can feel it sticking to me a bit!”

“Yes!” Aziraphale exclaimed again. “Isn’t it extraordinary?”

_Let me show you every extraordinary thing._

“Erm,” Crowley started after a moment. “Thanks for the ticket. I’ve never properly been here.”

“Oh, it really is a wonderful place,” Aziraphale said, eyes still watching their hands touching the anemone. “I’m so glad I could help you see it.”

“So, what else is there?” Crowley asked, finally returning his hand to dry land.

“Goodness,” Aziraphale breathed. “Where to start…”

“Really,” Crowley wiped his hand off on his dark, tight trousers and Aziraphale lamented not having showed him to the hand washing station just to their right. “Now I feel like I need you to keep telling me about all the animals.”

There was that grin again. Aziraphale was done for.

“I’m helpless without you, I’m afraid,” Crowley finished.

“I’monbreakatnoon.” The rush of words tore themselves free from Aziraphale’s throat.

“What’s that?” Crowley frowned.

_Breathe, Aziraphale._

“I’m on my lunch break at noon,” Aziraphale tried again. “We could meet in front of the staircase and I could give you a little tour.”

And for a moment, Aziraphale felt panic rising in his chest. There he was again, being too much, being too strange, being too-

“Alright.”

“What’s that?” Aziraphale asked himself this time.

“Tour sounds nice,” Crowley said, reaching up to trail still-damp fingers through his tousled crimson hair. 

“Excellent!” Aziraphale declared over the sound of his own ruined heartbeat. “I shall see you in just a few hours, then.”

Crowley gifted him one more grin before ambling away to examine the spider crabs. Aziraphale gazed after him, because… well, because…

 _You’re beautiful,_ Aziraphale thought quietly to himself.

Just then, one of his co-workers walked up to the touch pool to send Aziraphale to his next position in the day’s rotation. 

When Aziraphale gathered his tea and began his journey across the atrium, he felt a little like he was floating. 

_Oh, I wanna dance with somebody  
I wanna feel the heat with somebody  
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody  
With somebody who loves me_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for jumping into this soft little world with me, my friends! Up next: Behind the scenes tour!
> 
> ALSO: sungmee did some INCREDIBLE art of Chapter One! Go check them out on Tumblr, please!


	3. caretta caretta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He had just started to talk himself out of the promise of the entire enterprise (He was just being nice to you because it was Pride and he was working. He wasn’t even that cute, was he? Yeah. No big deal. This is dumb.) when he first wandered up to the sight of Aziraphale at the touch pool._
> 
> _It felt like a massive wave crashing over him. This jet of longing straight to the guts. Aziraphale, shirt sleeves rolled up, leaning over the pool of little creatures, speaking so patiently and kindly to the children. It made Crowley feel something… covetous, down in his bones. He wanted to soak up the sunshine of that kindness, he wanted to drown in that fucking enthusiasm._
> 
> _“Crowley”_
> 
> _When Aziraphale said his name out loud with as much delight as if he himself were something stunning ocean creature, Crowley nearly fell over himself._
> 
> or: In which a plan of sorts is hatched and more aquatic friends are encountered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics from "Hurt So Good" by Carly Rae Jepsen!

_When you walk into the room  
I can't speak and I can't move  
You don't see me but you should  
Why you gotta make it hurt so good?_

Firstly, because I know you’re all worried about it:

Crowley was not fired.

_“Where the fuck have you been?” Beez demanded to know, already hoisting heavy boxes of un-drunk liquor over their tiny shoulders._

_Crowley sauntered back up to their little bar in a bit of a daze. Words and phrases like “cetacean” and “unihemispheric slow-wave sleep” and “Aziraphale” drifted in and out of his brain. His tongue was heavy with prickly pear vodka and with things he wished he’d been clever enough to say in the moment._

_Beez, mild concern in their eyes, set down their large box, stepped forward, and kicked Crowley in the shins._

_“Fuck!” Crowley yelped. “If I let you keep all the tips, will you stop bloody assaulting me?”_

_“What happened?” Beez demanded again, eyes narrowing suspiciously._

_“Nothing,” Crowley snarled. Meeting Aziraphale had been precious, a treasure that he wanted to keep private to himself for a while longer-_

_Beez reared their foot back again._

_“Fine!” Crowley hopped out of their path, holding his hands up in a lackluster defense. “There was a…”_

_Fuck, what did he even call Aziraphale? A man? Not good enough. An aquarium worker? Doesn’t begin to cover anything really. A miracle? An unexpected beam of bright light waiting to rescue his pathetic, lonely heart and teach him about sea creatures?_

_“There was someone,” Crowley finished lamely. “At the dolphin exhibit.”_

_Beez nodded, crossing their arms across their chest._

_“And they were…” Again, fuck, what were the right words here? They were kind? They were a surprise? They were a huge fucking dork, but it was adorable and wonderful? They were smart and considerate and (fuck) handsome?_

_“They were… cool.”_

_Lost in his memory of Aziraphale, Crowley didn’t notice Beez go for the second kick._

_“FUCK.”_

_“Don’t be an idiot,” Beez seethed at him. “You’ve been gone for forty-five fucking minutes. They were not ‘cool.’”_

_“Fine!” Crowley yelled again. “They were… really fucking wonderful.”_

_“Mmm,” Beez hummed, apparently finally slightly satisfied._

_“And they were kind of a weirdo,” Crowley admitted. “They were really clever about the dolphins and they did a shot with me and they gave me a ticket to come back here sometime for free and-”_

_As the story unravelled out of Crowley’s mouth, he felt his heartbeat begin to go a bit out of control._

_“And you like them,” Beez concluded, more softly than Crowley had heard them before._

_(Fuck.)_

_“How could I possibly like them?” Crowley asked, looking down now to the ticket still clutched tightly in his sweaty grip. “I just met them.”_

_“Crowley,” Beez sighed. “Fuck you.”_

_“Okay,” Crowley started. “I know I was late, but you are being a tremendous dick for no-”_

_“He likes you, dumbass,” Beez interrupted. “And you like him, obviously. And he’s given you a reason to come back and there’s nothing else you have to do, okay? You’re not going to fuck this up. Give yourself a fucking chance.”_

_Crowley immediately opened his mouth to argue, but:_

_Huh._

_Damn._

_This was a strange evening._

_“When did we become friends?” Crowley asked finally._

_Beez shrugged, turning back to the bar for clean-up. “Spend enough time in this fucking Hell with somebody, you start to like them, I guess.”_

_They turned back around sharply, a finger accusingly in Crowley’s face._

_“A little,” they corrected fiercely. “You start to like them a little.”_

_A grin crept over Crowley’s face. “So, what, now I get to text you about how cute he is and everything he told me about the dolphins and read you my diary and-”_

_Beez kicked him again._

So, yeah, Crowley wasn’t fired.

But he also had the day after Pride off and he had a free ticket to the aquarium burning a hole in his pocket and he had the (kind of) support of a (kind of) friend. So, he had wrenched himself out of bed earlier than he willingly had for as long as he could remember and he had returned to the aquarium. 

He had just started to talk himself out of the promise of the entire enterprise ( _He was just being nice to you because it was Pride and he was working. He wasn’t even that cute, was he? Yeah. No big deal. This is dumb._ ) when he first wandered up to the sight of Aziraphale at the touch pool.

It felt like a massive wave crashing over him. This jet of longing straight to the guts. Aziraphale, shirt sleeves rolled up, leaning over the pool of little creatures, speaking so patiently and kindly to the children before him. It made Crowley feel something… covetous, down in his bones. He wanted to soak up the sunshine of that kindness, he wanted to drown in that fucking enthusiasm.

“Crowley!”

When Aziraphale said his name out loud with as much delight as if he himself was some stunning ocean creature, Crowley nearly fell over himself. 

_Give yourself a fucking chance._

The ticket, the touch pool lesson, this upcoming behind-the-scenes tour… Aziraphale was giving him chances. Crowley didn’t understand why, but he thought it might be nice to get with the program for once. To be on his own side, instead of wildly fighting tooth and nail against anything like comfort or happiness. 

He checked his watch as he wandered away from the spider crabs. (Which, by the way: fucking rad.) Two hours to go until he met Aziraphale at the staircase. 

He could make it two more hours. 

***

That wave threatened to drag Crowley under again as he approached the staircase, as punctual as he’d ever been for anything in his life. Aziraphale was already standing there, because of course he was, smiling nervously and offering Crowley a little wave. Crowley still didn’t have the right words for him. How did anyone find the right words to describe that gleaming hair, those brilliant eyes, that wobbly, soft mouth?

_I shoulda been a fucking poet,_ Crowley inwardly lamented as he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked up to Aziraphale.

“Are you ready, my dear?” Aziraphale asked, smiling hugely. He looked about ready to shake out his skin with excitement. The observation made Crowley smile. Whatever this cute nerd was excited about, Crowley definitely wanted to see it for himself.

“I’m ready.”

As they ascended the staircase together, Aziraphale fiddled with his hands, as though he were trying to hold himself together. Crowley wanted to reach across and grab them, hold them steady. 

_Be as excited as you are, angel. Don’t hold back._

Fuck. “Angel.” That’s what Aziraphale was. A soft, kind guardian angel of aquatic animals. Crowley hoped he wasn’t blushing too obviously at the ease with which the thought had crossed his mind.

Angel.

“I must admit,” Aziraphale mentioned, keeping his gaze fixed on the steps before them. “I was surprised to see you back so soon.”

Crowley didn’t immediately know how to respond. _Look, angel, I’m as surprised as you are. But I’m trying this new thing where I entertain the notion of my own happiness and I haven’t been as happy in a long, long time as I was to listen to you ramble on about dolphins last night, so here I fucking am. Hope it’s not as weird as I’m worried it is. Is it weird? Fuck._

_Give yourself a fucking chance._

“Honestly,” Crowley began, sliding a hand out of his pocket now to grip the rail beside him, to keep himself upright. “I liked learning about dolphins from you. I wanted to learn more. From you.”

Aziraphale paused on the staircase and turned to look at Crowley and, fuck, his face was actual sunshine.

“Really?” Aziraphale asked.

“Really,” Crowley confirmed.

They stopped at the top of the staircase, still looking at each other.

“Honestly,” Crowley started again. (It is the best policy, isn’t it?) “I just liked talking to you.”

Aziraphale nodded and Crowley detected a slight twitch of his upper lip. It was the cutest fucking thing he’d ever seen.

“Honestly.” Fuck it, we’re going for it. “I think I just like you.” 

Crowley flinched as the words left his wretched mouth, but he didn’t avert his gaze from Aziraphale’s. He tried to think back to all the lessons he’d learned after years and years of therapy. What was the worst that could happen, after all? 

“I think I like you too,” Aziraphale answered slowly, again as though he were trying to hold back the depths of his enthusiasm. 

“A proposal, then,” Crowley said, hardly believing the words as they escaped him.

“Oh?” Aziraphale’s eyes widened, just the slightest hitch in his breath.

“I know you’re at work,” Crowley continued. “And I don’t want to be weird or inappropriate. But I’d like to ask you out and, honestly, I’d kind of just like to already be out. On a date, I mean. With you.”

Crowley flinched again as soon as he’d said it.

“I know it’s probably not very romantic,” he hastily tried to backtrack. “Since you’re at work and all, but I mean, it’s a lot cooler here than most peoples’ jobs, I figured, and okay, I probably should have thought this out before I started talking, but I think I might like you a lot and I know I haven’t even known you for a full day and-”

Aziraphale took his hand. 

“If I might now be honest with you, my dear,” Aziraphale said, softly, still looking up at Crowley like he’d hung the fucking stars or something. “I’ve sort of always dreamed someone dashing might walk around this place with me. I love it here. And I’d love to share it with someone special to me.”

Aziraphale squeezed Crowley’s hand on “special” and Crowley wondered if spontaneous combustion was actually a thing.

“So, then,” Crowley croaked, all pretense of cool gone right out the window. “This is a date.”

“It is,” Aziraphale confirmed. “A first date.”

And they stood there a little stupidly for a moment longer, holding hands and looking at one another.

“I probably shouldn’t hold hands while I’m on the job, I’m afraid,” Aziraphale said, taking his hand gently back away from Crowley. “But I promise you I’ll find something else wonderful for your hands to encounter before the day is out.”

Crowley, blushing down to his toenails, quite believed him.

“In fact…” Aziraphale’s eyes widened again. “Crowley, would you mind terribly if we went off-script a little bit? I have something rather marvelous to show you.”

“Wherever you want to go, Aziraphale,” Crowley said and meant it.

Aziraphale clapped his hands together and there was that delighted wiggle again. 

“Follow me, my dear.”

_To the end of the world, perhaps._

***

They fled back down the staircase, swam through the ever-increasing swarms of people wandering around the main atrium, passed by the overpriced cafe, and finally Aziraphale swiped a little badge against a set of double doors. He held the door open for Crowley, bowing his head a little as he did so as though Crowley were someone to be held in any sort of regard or esteem.

“Where are we?” Crowley wondered out loud as they entered the quiet hallway.

“We are officially backstage, as it were,” Aziraphale announced. 

“Cool,” Crowley whistled, looking around at the copies of studies and reports plastered as giant posters on the walls surrounding them.

“Are you ready to meet someone incredible?” Aziraphale leaned forward, some of that conspiratorial attitude back from last night. Crowley grinned at the sight of it. He liked that Aziraphale seemed to view everything as a quest of sorts, some important mission from a storybook.

“Lead the way.”

Aziraphale swiped his badge two more times to get them deeper and deeper behind the scenes. Eventually, Crowley found himself in a lowlit room, cramped with shelves and white boards and confusing bits of rubber balls with some long green stuff attached to them…

“Enrichment,” Aziraphale clarified, following Crowley’s confused gaze. “The trainers are always coming up with new toys and things to engage the animals.”

The air was thicker back here with the scent of fish and saltwater. Crowley thought back to previous first dates he’d been on; at trendy bars, at cool pop-up restaurants… He thought of how hard it always felt like he was trying to fit in, to perform at those sorts of places. 

But Aziraphale seemed so in his element here, so sure in his confidence and his excitement. Crowley wouldn’t have traded the setting in a hundred years.

He followed Aziraphale up a smaller staircase and behind a little gate. It was sort of impressive and (fuck) more than a little sexy to see Aziraphale so comfortable as he navigated behind-the-scenes. Each swipe of his badge or unlocking of a gate… He was clever and certain and it was hotter than Crowley ever could have imagined.

“Watch your head,” Aziraphale cautioned as they passed through the gate.

Crowley did as he was told, ducking his head to avoid scraping against the suddenly low ceiling. There was a great pool off to their right. Aziraphale knelt down beside it and beckoned Crowley to follow him. Crowley did so, awkwardly going down to his skinny knees there on the floor. Aziraphale placed his hands against the rim of the pool and looked across the water.

“Any moment now… Ah! Hello, darling.”

Crowley nearly melted at the gentle sort of reverence with which it seemed Aziraphale greeted all his aquatic friends. He was so focused on the broad, obvious joy on Aziraphale’s face that he very nearly didn’t notice the turtle suddenly bobbing up in the water before them.

Crowley jerked back a bit in surprise, unsure as to whether or not his fingers needed to be quite so close to the animal’s face. Aziraphale laughed gently and reached his hand down into the water.

“Crowley,” Aziraphale said. “Meet TJ.”

“Hello,” Crowley offered, desperate to prove to Aziraphale that he was also capable of being polite and brave.

“TJ is a juvenile loggerhead sea turtle,” Aziraphale continued, stroking his fingers now against TJ’s impressive shell. 

“Can he feel that?” Crowley asked, keeping his fingers back but leaning his face closer to the water.

“He can!” Aziraphale responded. “Sea turtles have nerve endings in their shells. TJ enjoys a good scratch from time to time. In the ocean, they’re known to rub up against rocks and other things.”

As if to prove his active involvement in the proceedings, TJ lifted his little face out of the water, inhaled deeply, and dove back down, positioning his shell more closely to Aziraphale’s fingers.

“Can I?” Crowley asked.

“Please.”

Crowley brought his own hand down to TJ’s shell. It was bumpy, a little pointy at some places.

“Scutes,” Aziraphale said, as if he could read Crowley’s mind. “The plates on their shells are called ‘scutes.’”

Aziraphale slid his legs out from under himself and instead adopted a cross-legged seat, leaning his chin against one hand now as he continued to pet TJ with the other. He looked so exceptionally comfortable and soft. Crowley greatly wanted to slide up next to him and lean his head against Aziraphale’s shoulder and stare down at TJ for the rest of time.

“Where does TJ come from?” Crowley asked.

Aziraphale sighed a bit at that, a little sadness seeping into his voice. “TJ is a rescue, Crowley. Hopefully, after enough rehabilitation here at the aquarium, he’ll be able to return home to the ocean.”

“I didn’t know any of them ever went back,” Crowley confessed.

“Each animal has their own unique story,” Aziraphale explained, his fingers grazing Crowley’s as they touched TJ together. 

“You like stories,” Crowley observed.

Aziraphale looked up at him and smiled. “I’m certainly enjoying this one. It’s been quite unexpected so far. I like that. Good intrigue. Surprising pacing.”

Aziraphale pulled his hand back and checked the watch around his wrist. His face fell.

“I’m afraid I need to be getting back,” he said.

Crowley nodded. Of course. They’d only ever had this hour. 

“But,” Aziraphale continued. “I’m off at 4 o’clock and the aquarium doesn’t close until 9 tonight. There’s still so much I could show you. If you like.”

This time Crowley reached out for Aziraphale’s damp, seawater hand and held it in his own.

“I mean, what good first date lasts just an hour, really?” Crowley pointed out.

“Quite right. Exceptional logic.”

They bid farewell to TJ and then Aziraphale led Crowley back through all the gates and locked doors and official hallways. They walked past the overpriced cafe and found themselves again in the center of the atrium.

“Well,” Aziraphale breathed, looking more nervous again amidst the crowds of people. “At 4 o’clock, then?”

Crowley nodded, feeling nervous now himself. Back in the bright lights of the atrium, some of the behind-the-scenes fairytale slipped away and he felt terribly aware of himself. Of the awkward, surly, scrawny caterer who had only met this kind person one night prior, who didn’t know fucking anything about sea creatures. Here, outside of the dim light of TJ’s habitat, surely Aziraphale would see him for what he was now. 

“Is this going well?” Aziraphale whispered, eyes darting up to meet Crowley’s gaze, voice trembling ever so-slightly.

Crowley’s own nerves disappeared. All he wanted was for Aziraphale to be as sure of himself as Crowley was of him, fuck his own fucking anxieties. 

“You introduced me to an actual sea turtle,” Crowley said, firmly, wanting to reach out and hold Aziraphale by the shoulders as he said it. “This is the best first date I’ve ever been on.”

_And the strangest. And the most unexpected. Thank you. Thank you for giving me the chance to be strange and unexpected._

“I’ve lots more to show you,” Aziraphale said and it sounded almost like a warning.

Crowley laughed at his tone. “Bring it on, Aziraphale.”

“At 3 o’clock,” Aziraphale looked away, a blush spreading over his cheeks. “I’ll be narrating the whale shark feeding. If you’d like to watch.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Crowley had never swept an aquarium docent off their feet before, but, if Aziraphale’s face was any indication, he felt like he was rather crushing it. Crowley very rarely felt like he was crushing it. 

“Lovely,” Aziraphale said. “‘Til then.”

And there was the little wave again and then he was off, hurrying back across the atrium. 

Crowley retrieved his mobile from his pocket and set about composing a particularly proud and soppy text to Beez, thrilled they weren’t in kicking range. 

_Is it too late or too soon?  
I'm right outside here wanting you  
You don't see me, but you should  
Why you gotta make it hurt so good?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and for commenting, friends! We've got lots more animals for these two to meet, so settle in for the longest, nerdiest first date of all time!
> 
> (As in "in the reptile house," TJ is based on a real turtle whom I used to scritch back in the day. He was safely rehomed to the ocean several years ago and I think about him all the time.)


	4. rhincodon typus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Hello, everyone!” Aziraphale said into the microphone as he strode out in front of the massive window. “How are we today?”_
> 
> _The crowd grumbled back a lackluster sort of reply, as they always did at first. Before Aziraphale could coax them into a more enthusiastic reply, however, one solitary voice rang out from the back:_
> 
> _“We’re bloody great!” Crowley shouted, hands cupped around his mouth to make sure the sound carried. “How are you?”_
> 
> _“Oh!” Aziraphale wiggled his shoulders just a bit, terribly pleased. “I’m marvelous, my dear. Thank you for asking.”_
> 
> Or: Just a little chapter starring the biggest fish in the sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to Whitney for lyrics this time! "One Moment in Time."

_Each day I live  
I want to be  
A day to give  
The best of me_

If you asked Aziraphale what he considered himself to be _good_ at, he would have first gone a little red in the face, nervously linked his hands together, laughed a little as though the suggestion of him being good at anything was a bit of a joke…

But if you were persistent and kind, eventually he would have smiled shyly and told you:

_I am good at reading good books and eating good cake. I am an excellent audience member at the opera. I am good at finding my way around on foot since I’ve never learned how to drive. I am good at my job. I am good at being kind and patient while sharing facts and answering questions._

Then he would have paused, bit down briefly on his lip, blushed deeper, and admitted:

_Oh, and I am EXCELLENT at narrating the daily 3 o’clock whale shark feed._

At 2:55 precisely, Aziraphale tightened his grip around his microphone. From his dark, little corner by the aquarium’s largest window, he looked out over the assembly of patrons. Families and school trips and couples and curious individuals all sitting on the carpeted steps before the magnificent acrylic, waiting to learn something incredible. And above and behind them… leaning casually and handsomely against the railing…

Crowley.

His date.

_His date._

Aziraphale blushed at the indication. This sort of thing… this thing of a handsome stranger waltzing up to a touch pool and asking Aziraphale on a date… well, this sort of thing didn’t happen to him. Aziraphale read quite a lot of lovely stories and they never starred a chubby, over-excitable aquarium educator as the romantic lead, did they?

Aziraphale didn’t know what he’d intended when he’d shoved the free ticket into Crowley’s hand the evening before. It was a token of his gratitude, he supposed: _Thank you for making my Pride less lonely. Thank you for listening to me talk about the dolphins. Thank you for asking questions. Thank you for making me feel less alone._

He hadn’t very well considered his next move in the event of Crowley’s return to the aquarium. A polite, appropriate acknowledgement and then everyone goes on their merry way? 

To have held hands on the staircase and to have shown the man behind-the-scenes _to meet a sea turtle…_

Aziraphale never moved so decisively or so quickly. He worried, he fretted, he considered deeply.

But something about Crowley made Aziraphale want to be… Oh, how to describe it? Not reckless. He still wanted to consider deeply where Crowley was concerned. Aziraphale wanted to be thoughtful and careful in his responses to Crowley’s questions, for example. Whatever he wanted to know, Aziraphale wanted to share. 

Crowley made Aziraphale want to be confident. _Why, yes, I DO know all about those dolphins. Why, yes, I do have the keys to get you behind-the-scenes to see something wonderful. Why, yes, perhaps I am good and worth knowing to someone brave and handsome like you._

This was going to be the best damn whale shark feed of Aziraphale’s career.

“Hello, everyone!” Aziraphale said into the microphone as he strode out in front of the massive window. “How are we today?”

The crowd grumbled back a lackluster sort of reply, as they always did at first. Before Aziraphale could coax them into a more enthusiastic reply, however, one solitary voice rang out from the back:

“We’re bloody great!” Crowley shouted, hands cupped around his mouth to make sure the sound carried. “How are you?”

“Oh!” Aziraphale wiggled his shoulders just a bit, terribly pleased. “I’m marvelous, my dear. Thank you for asking.”

“You’re welcome!”

Blushing horribly now, Aziraphale gestured to the window behind him. 

“Is everyone ready to learn about whale sharks?”

“Hell yeah, we are!”

Some of the crowd giggled a little now at Crowley’s awkward enthusiasm, but oh, Aziraphale couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy to be at work. Or anywhere really. 

_Are you like this everywhere? Bold and strange and kind? Would you be this way with me at the theatre, at a nice restaurant, at the park? Would you let me tell you things anywhere?_

“Whale sharks are the largest fish in the entire ocean,” Aziraphale began, happiness flooding his body from the tips of his fluffy hair to the bottoms of his feet. “But, despite their remarkable size, we actually know very little about them…”

(It really was the best whale shark feed of his career.)

***

Crowley loped down to the window as soon as Aziraphale shut off the microphone. 

“Big as a school bus?” Crowley repeated incredulously, his eyebrows raised high above his glasses.

“Would I lie to you?” Aziraphale teased, grateful for the darkened room’s ability to conceal his pleased blush. 

“But they only eat little stuff?”

“As I mentioned, their throats are just the size of a small coin!”

“That’s incredible,” Crowley breathed, looking up now at the window.

Aziraphale’s heart ached to watch him, his features so beautifully illuminated by the blue glow of the water. 

Crowley knocked against the window. “How thick did you say this glass was?”

“It’s actually acrylic!” Aziraphale explained. “And it’s nearly an entire meter thick. Two whole feet.”

Crowley whistled. Aziraphale stepped closer to him just as a massive shape swam overhead.

“Would you like to know her name?” Aziraphale pointed up.

Crowley gaped at the huge spotted shark swimming past the very front of the window. “You mean you can tell them apart?”

“I can,” Aziraphale admitted, feeling, for once, proud of himself. “Look at her belly.”

Crowley did.

“This is Alice,” Aziraphale said, fondly. (Alice was his favorite.) “First of all, I can tell she’s a female due to her lack of male reproductive organs. Sharks have something called claspers.”

“Claspers,” Crowley repeated, nodding a little as though the word itself explained everything. Aziraphale smiled and continued:

“From there, I simply observe the markings on her underside. Alice has the biggest spots of all the whale sharks. Sort of like a big, swimming dalmatian. Each of their markings are unique, you know.”

“Fuck,” Crowley drawled. “The ocean is cool as hell.”

“Isn’t it?” Aziraphale agreed emphatically. 

“When is your shift over?” Crowley asked.

“Just one more hour,” Aziraphale suddenly felt nervous again. Crowley had been at the aquarium since it opened that morning. Surely he wouldn’t want to stay here all day-

“All right, then,” Crowley’s eyes were still fixed on the creatures swimming before them. “Where should I meet you in an hour?”

“Have you had the opportunity to see everything yet?” Aziraphale asked. This was a very important determining factor.

“Well, I haven’t seen everything with you along to tell me about them” Crowley pointed out. “So, does it really count?”

Aziraphale dipped his head and smiled. “No, I suppose it doesn’t.”

A moment of silence passed, each of them momentarily too pleased and shy about it to speak.

“There’s a sea lion presentation just after I get off,” Aziraphale finally mentioned. “Would you like to see it with me?”

“Haven’t you seen it before? I wouldn’t want you to be bored.”

“Oh, no!” Aziraphale insisted. “The sea lions are a delight. I’m always happy to see them.”

“Careful,” Crowley turned to Aziraphale at last, a grin on his face. “We’ll be out of things to see for our second date.”

“Well,” Aziraphale smiled. “Perhaps we venture outside of the aquarium for a second date. I’ll have to come to your place of employment next, clearly.”

Crowley shuddered. “Aziraphale, I vow to take you somewhere much nicer than my job for our second date.”

“I must admit,” Aziraphale said. “I’m still terribly surprised you wanted to go on this first one.”

“Why’s that?” Crowley asked, grin fading a little.

“Well, just…” Aziraphale didn’t want to sound as though he was fishing for a compliment or anything of the sort, but… well, it was honestly quite a mystery to him. “You strike me as so interesting and, well, cool. I wouldn’t have guessed myself your type.”

“I was surprised too,” Crowley answered. “Not because of anything to do with you. You’re cooler than you think you are, I suspect.”

Aziraphale opened his mouth, ready to argue, ready to cut himself back down, but Crowley continued-

“I hope you don’t think this is creepy. This isn’t, like, a habit of mine. Bartending an event and then showing up at someone’s job the next day to stalk them.”

Crowley frowned more deeply now, running his hand through his hair as though he was suddenly regretting the entire situation.

“I don’t think you’re creepy at all,” Aziraphale hurried to assure him. “I think you’re brave and confident and a little amazing.”

“And I guess I don’t see myself that way at all,” Crowley said, reaching a hand out to rest atop Aziraphale’s shoulder. “Maybe we see wonderful things in each other that deserve to see the light of day for once? I’ll convince you you’re cool, you’ll convince me I’m not a total creep.”

Aziraphale brought his own hand up to settle over Crowley’s shoulder. “A bit of a symbiotic relationship, I suppose.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ll tell you on our third date,” Aziraphale beamed. 

Time seemed to stop as Crowley leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Aziraphale’s cheek. Aziraphale sucked in a breath of surprise at the gentle contact. This sort of thing really, _really_ didn’t happen to chubby, over-excitable aquarium educators. 

“This is going well,” Crowley said quietly before he pulled his face away.

“W-wonderful,” Aziraphale stammered, resisting the urge to lift his hand to touch the spot Crowley had just kissed.

Crowley winked once at him before turning away and sauntering out of the exhibit. Aziraphale disappeared back behind into his little darkened corner, hardly able to contain the whale shark-sized grin covering his face. 

_Give me one moment in time  
When I'm more than I thought I could be  
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away  
And the answers are all up to me_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little update! Up next: sea lion shenanigans!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


	5. zalophus californianus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Crowley turned and smiled at the sight of Aziraphale approaching him. He had removed his nametag and drawn a knit sweater over his uniform shirt, and he looked terribly soft and cozy._
> 
> _And he wasn’t working anymore._
> 
> _The date could begin proper._
> 
> _“These are California sea lions,” Aziraphale walked up to the window, peering into the pool. “Like TJ, these friends are all rescues from off the California coast.”_
> 
> _“What did they need to be rescued from?” Crowley wondered._
> 
> _Sadness washed over Aziraphale’s face. “Oh, each animal has their own story, as I said. It’s tough in the ocean for many creatures these days. Pollution and human interference, not to mention natural predators and the like.”_
> 
> _“I’m glad they have a home here, then,” Crowley said, turning again to watch the whiskered animals zip around their habitat._
> 
> _“I am too,” Aziraphale smiled. “It’s an honor to be able to teach people about them. Perhaps, the more we know, the better we can do for their counterparts out in the wild.”_
> 
> or: In which the date starts proper and the boys take in a show!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics this time from "I Really Like You" by Carly Rae Jepsen!

_I really wanna stop but I just got the taste for it  
I feel like I could fly with the boy on the moon  
So honey, hold my hand, you like making me wait for it  
I feel like I could die walking up to the room, oh yeah_

Crowley shoved his hands deeply into his pockets (tough to do; his jeans, as you well know, were quite tight) as he turned and strolled away from the whale shark habitat. He shoved his hands deeply into his pockets to keep himself from smacking himself firmly across his own head.

_What the fuck were you thinking?_ An angry voice in his mind hissed at him. _Asking him out AT WORK, kissing him AT WORK. You are being textbook creepy right now, you idiotic piece of-_

Crowley shut his eyes tightly to try to drown out the angry but familiar voice. 

“No,” he muttered to himself, walking back into the bright lights of the atrium.

_No._

_I told Aziraphale this was going well and it is. He would tell me if something was wrong, he would tell me what he didn’t like. Aziraphale is clever and thoughtful and he would tell me the truth._

Crowley smiled at the thought. Aziraphale, if the fluttering of his lovely hands and the worried wobble of his blue eyes were any good indicators, was as nervous about this entire situation as he was.

“What a pair of dorks,” Crowley confessed to no one, grin growing wider at the thought.

Because that was part of it. Aziraphale didn’t judge him for his questions, for his curiosity. Aziraphale was so excited to share everything he knew and Crowley already felt he could listen to it for hours, for days maybe. Maybe they could be weirdos together and wouldn’t that be something?

Another brilliant idea (he was having a lot of them today and we should all be quite proud) floated across Crowley’s mind and he stalked off to his left with great determination. 

Aziraphale had to know this was going well.

***

Crowley arrived at the entrance to the sea lion theatre ten minutes early, enjoying watching the funny little fellows in their pool swimming and jumping and spinning. He couldn’t wait to hear what facts Aziraphale had to share about them.

“Aren’t they wonderful?”

Crowley turned and smiled at the sight of Aziraphale approaching him. He had removed his nametag and drawn a knit sweater over his uniform shirt, and he looked terribly soft and cozy. 

And he wasn’t working anymore.

The date could begin proper.

“These are California sea lions,” Aziraphale walked up to the window, peering into the pool. “Like TJ, these friends are all rescues from off the California coast.”

“What did they need to be rescued from?” Crowley wondered.

Sadness washed over Aziraphale’s face. “Oh, each animal has their own story, as I said. It’s tough in the ocean for many creatures these days. Pollution and human interference, not to mention natural predators and the like.”

“I’m glad they have a home here, then,” Crowley said, turning again to watch the whiskered animals zip around their habitat. 

“I am too,” Aziraphale smiled. “It’s an honor to be able to teach people about them. Perhaps, the more we know, the better we can do for their counterparts out in the wild.”

“Hey, I got you something,” Crowley remembered, offering the object in his hand to Aziraphale.

“Oh!” Aziraphale exclaimed, his face rapidly cycling from delight to something like disappointment and maybe even embarrassment.

“It’s cocoa!” Crowley suddenly felt the need to explain himself. Fuck, maybe this had been a dumb idea. “Thought you might like something warm at the end of your day.”

“Oh, my dear, it’s terribly thoughtful of you,” Aziraphale hurried. “Only…”

Aziraphale nodded his head severely to a sign just behind Crowley. Crowley whirled around to look more closely at the entrance to the theatre.

“Ah,” Crowley said, feeling supremely stupid.

“No food or drink allowed inside the theatre,” Aziraphale read, his voice something reverent and tragic. 

“Of course,” Crowley muttered. “Shoulda thought of that.”

“It’s a terribly lovely gesture!” Aziraphale assured him. “Only theatre etiquette is just so important, don’t you think?”

And the nervous hand wringing and worried eyes returned. 

“It’s no big deal,” Crowley said hastily. “I can just… I don’t know, throw it away, I guess?”

Aziraphale gasped. He fucking gasped. “You will do no such thing! You took the time to procure that for me and I’ll be, well, I’ll be damned if I see your kindness go to waste.”

And with that, Aziraphale reached forward, snatched the cocoa away, and lifted it almost defiantly to his lips.

“It’s probably still really hot!” Crowley cautioned, panicked and impressed by what it seemed like Aziraphale was about to do.

“Perfect,” Aziraphale remarked calmly before proceeding to down the entire paper cup of cocoa in one determined go.

Crowley just stared, the depths of his feelings for this remarkabale, entirely bizarre creature before him growing vaster by the second.

Aziraphale swallowed one final swallow, brought the cup away from his lips, smacked them appreciatively, and smoothly walked away to deposit the cup in the nearest trash receptacle. He walked back to Crowley, looking rather shy and pleased. He reached between them and curled his fingers gently around the still-staring Crowley’s own.

“Shall we see some sea lions, then?” Aziraphale asked.

“Ngk.” Of course, was his reply.

And so they wandered together into the sea lion theatre.

***

“So, what’s a seal and what’s a sea lion?” Crowley asked as they took their seats in the small theatre. Aziraphale had been very insistent they sit right up front, but off to the left as opposed to front and center.

_“Trust me,” he’d said, eyes sparkling._

_And Crowley did._

“Well, I don’t want to take too much away from the show,” Aziraphale began excitedly. “But I will go ahead and tell you at least one difference! Sea lions have external ear flaps-” He lifted his fingers to his own ears to demonstrate. “Whereas true seals do not!”

“And these one are sea lions?” Crowley gestured to the pool before them.

“Yes!” Aziraphale smiled at him. “We do have seals here, though, if you’d like to see them afterwards.”

Aziraphale immediately turned away as though he was asking too much, so Crowley reached across them to grab his hand. He squeezed it softly.

“Aziraphale,” Crowley said, the name escaping slowly and carefully from his lips. “Let me be clear. I intend to be here today until they drag me kicking and screaming from the gift shop. No need to worry about that bit, yeah?”

Aziraphale looked down at their clasped hands, awe in his eyes.

“I keep waiting for it to have all been a dream gotten out of hand, you know?” Aziraphale said, quietly, still looking down.

Crowley squeezed his hand again.

“I don’t know what all happens next,” Crowley told him. “But I like you. I like you for telling me about dolphins and doing a shot with me on Pride Night. I want to stay here all day so I can get to know you better. If you stop having fun, tell me and I’ll split, but until then…”

Crowley twisted his palm to thread their fingers together.

“This is really happening.”

Aziraphale looked back up at him, eyes shimmering with something serious.

“Crowley, I-”

Of course, the show began at precisely that moment.

“Hello, everyone!” shouted the perky sea lion trainer as she strode across the front of the pool. “Are you ready to see some sea lions?!”

(Are any of us ever really ready to see some sea lions? Who can possibly be ready for that degree of joy, after all?)

Crowley generally prided himself on being a pretty cool person, but damn if this sea lion presentation wasn’t the cutest fucking thing he’d ever seen. He laughed out loud at all the corny pinniped puns, he aww-ed appropriately when the juvenile sea lions darted back and forth across the pool, he ooh-ed respectfully when the largest adult sea lion slid out onto the stage before them. 

“Everyone,” shouted the sea lion trainer. “Make some noise for Diego!”

Aziraphale extracted his hand from Crowley’s to applaud generously. Crowley looked at him and grinned, already planning their next five dates out in his head when…

“Go Diego!”

The huge sea lion plunged expertly into the water and zoomed across the pool. Crowley definitely didn’t know sea lions could get that big and he was in the middle of mentally praising Diego for his impressive size when said-lion broke the surface of the water right in front of where Aziraphale and Crowley were sitting. Saltwater sloshed out of the pool around Diego and, well...

Crowley yelped as surprisingly cold water splashed onto him. Beside him, Aziraphale, also soaked, laughed and clapped harder than ever.

“Oh, I hope you don’t mind!” Aziraphale giggled. “This is always my favorite part!”

“Is this why you picked these seats?” Crowley blinked saltwater from his eyes.

“Well, look!”

Crowley turned back to the pool and fuck. Wow.

Because there was Diego, settled on his giant flippers against the window, looking majestically out over the crowd. Crowley knew it would probably get him kicked out immediately, but his fingers itched to reach out and pet Diego’s handsome whiskers.

“Diego,” the trainer walked over to the animal. “Say hello to everyone!”

Diego let out the loudest noise Crowley thought he had ever heard-- something between a bark and a growl. 

“I wanted you to have the best seat in the house for his vocalizations!” Aziraphale explained, the absolute nerd.

_I wanted you to have the best of anything. I thought ahead about what you might like, I considered you._

Dripping onto the bleachers of the theatre, Crowley’s heart twisted a little in his chest. Beside him, Aziraphale was gazing happily at Diego, his blue eyes looking into Diego’s brown ones. There was something so inherently gentle about him, about this fond, kind man who loved sea animals so much. Crowley felt a sudden pull in his guts to protect him, to manifest a world that welcomed and cherished this soft, beautiful soul.

_You absolute goner,_ whispered the voice in his head, but it wasn’t angry this time. It was quiet and kind and sure. Not the tones his own head often offered him. 

Crowley promptly started planning their sixth date. Something with flowers and candles, probably.

Yeah. 

***

Crowley betrayed himself with a little shiver as he and Aziraphale exited the theatre and walked back into the cooler air of the atrium. Aziraphale frowned.

“Oh, dear.”

“It’s nothing,” Crowley waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s only that I hoped for us to visit the coldwater animals next, you see,” Aziraphale said. He brought a hand up to his own face, considering, thinking, solving…

“I’ve got it!” Aziraphale exclaimed, turning on his heel and beginning to walk back towards the staircase.

“Where are you going?” Crowley called after him, not eager to be parted so soon during their actual date.

“Back in a jiffy!” Aziraphale responded without turning back around.

Fuck, he was so… determined.

When Aziraphale returned, he had changed from his soaked uniform shirt into a blue argyle jumper that made him look, somehow, even softer and warmer than before.

“What, did you sneak into a phone booth and transform back into your mild-mannered alter ego?” Crowley teased.

Aziraphale swatted at his arm. “I went up to my locker, if you must know. I still had this lying around from our last company party.”

He then held something black out to Crowley, a bit of an apology in his eyes.

“It’s a little silly,” Aziraphale confessed. “But I worried you’d simply drown in any of my things, so I stole this from the lost and found.”

Crowley fanned out the long-sleeved shirt only to discover a bright, neon candy-colored design of a many-tentacled creature with sparkling words written across the chest: “Don’t Be Jelly.”

Crowley generally prided himself on being a pretty cool person-

“It’s perfect,” he grinned at Aziraphale. “I’ll go change, shall I?”

“And then penguins?” Aziraphale asked, hopefully, bringing his hands up to his heart.

“And then penguins,” Crowley agreed. 

_Late night watching television  
But how'd we get in this position  
It's way too soon, I know this isn't love  
But I need to tell you something_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: PENGUINS, FRIENDS.


	6. spheniscus demersus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Aziraphale looked down to their joined hands as Crowley continued to investigate the faint noises around them. There were the echoes of other human beings of course, the taps of footsteps on cool hard floors, the gentle splashes of the touch pool… It was difficult to make out at all, but just there, as if it were emitting from some deep alien cavern…_
> 
> _“Clicks?” Crowley’s eyes stayed dutifully shut and Aziraphale wondered (heart pounding) what it would be like to lean forward and kiss him. “Sort of squeaks and whistles? It’s a little like the dolphins.”_
> 
> _“A lot like the dolphins, in fact,” Aziraphale agreed. “Open your eyes.”_
> 
> or: in which we meet some coldwater creatures and there is some discussion of smooching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics this chapter from "Want You In My Room" by Carly Rae Jepsen!

_When all the lights out, where you going?  
I keep a window for you, it's always open  
I'm like a lighthouse, I'm a reminder of where you're going  
I'm in your head now, from every second now_

Once Crowley was changed (Goodness, how did he even manage to make the sparkly “Don’t Be Jelly” shirt look so _handsome?_ ), he rejoined Aziraphale in the atrium and together they strolled off to the coldwater gallery. They passed the touch pool where Crowley had first reacquainted Aziraphale just that morning and turned a corner to discover a large window.

“Wait, wait,” Aziraphale reached for Crowley’s hand before he could get closer to the exhibit.

“What is it?” 

“Close your eyes.”

Aziraphale was thrilled they’d waited until later in the day to explore the coldwater gallery. Some of his very favorite animal friends inhabited this section of the aquarium, and he was delighted to introduce them all to Crowley.

Grinning, Crowley shut his eyes. Gently, Aziraphale pulled him deeper into the gallery, closer to the window. They were the only two people currently standing in front of it.

“What do you hear?” Aziraphale asked quietly.

Crowley furrowed his brow in concentration and Aziraphale smiled impossibly wider. 

_This is going well._

Aziraphale looked down to their joined hands as Crowley continued to investigate the faint noises around them. There were the echoes of other human beings of course, the taps of footsteps on cool hard floors, the gentle splashes of the touch pool… It was difficult to make out at all, but just there, buried under everything else, as if it were emitting from some deep alien cavern…

“Clicks?” Crowley’s eyes stayed dutifully shut and Aziraphale wondered (heart pounding) what it would be like to close the distance between them and kiss him. “Sort of squeaks and whistles? It’s a little like the dolphins.”

“A lot like the dolphins, in fact,” Aziraphale agreed. “Open your eyes.”

Crowley’s eyes fluttered open just as an enormous white whale swam past the front of the window. Crowley took a step back and laughed, seemingly surprised at the sight of it.

“Is that a dolphin?! It’s huge!”

“This,” Aziraphale placed a hand lovingly up to the acrylic. “Is a beluga whale.”

“‘Beluga,’” Crowley repeated. “Like the caviar?”

“Not quite!” Aziraphale answered. “‘Beluga’ derives from the Russian word for ‘white,’ so the Beluga in Beluga caviar actually refers to Beluga sturgeon.”

“Right,” Crowley nodded. “Because these guys are mammals, right? No eggs?”

“Exactly so!” Aziraphale squeezed Crowley’s hand, trying not to be too overwhelmed in his delight over Crowley remembering anything they’d ever discussed in their less than 24 hours of… well, whatever this was. Courtship? Goodness.

There were three whales swimming in the habitat before them. As Aziraphale and Crowley watched, one whale swam right up to the front of the window, pressing its thick, white skin against the surface. Aziraphale could have stared at them for hours and hours.

“What makes them whales and not dolphins?” Crowley wanted to know.

“An excellent question,” Aziraphale said and meant it. “A dolphin, actually, is a sort of whale. Killer whales, in fact, are the largest dolphin species despite their name.” 

“And so these ones live where it’s quite chilly?”

“In the Arctic and sub-Arctic. The white coloration helps them to blend in with their surroundings, to help them evade predators.”

Crowley’s jaw dropped. “What could eat one of these?!”

“Killer whales and polar bears!” Aziraphale answered, perhaps too enthused about the subject of predation.

“Where’s their little top fin thing? Like the dolphins have got,” Crowley pointed with his free hand as another whale floated by.

“It’s called a dorsal fin,” Aziraphale explained. “A dorsal fin would be tough to navigate in the Arctic ice and it’s additionally more surface area across which to lose body heat.”

Crowley turned to look at him as though he was something amazing. 

“How did you get to be so smart?”

Aziraphale’s insides melted at the way Crowley asked the question. Like he was impressed instead of annoyed. Like he didn’t think Aziraphale was a “know-it-all” or something even worse.

“Well, I’ve always loved to learn,” Aziraphale said, gazing back at the whales. “And to read. And to study and memorize. When I was small, one of my classmates brought their dog to Show & Tell. Apparently, the dog had been abandoned on the side of the road. I’d never before considered that anyone might have it in their heart to be unkind to an animal. To tell you the truth, I had to be escorted from the classroom that afternoon. I was quite beside myself.”

He turned back to Crowley to smile, for once, somehow, not embarrassed of this story.

“I wanted to do everything I could do to help animals,” Aziraphale continued. “As I got older and realized I was no great athlete or explorer, I figured a life out in the field was probably out of the question for me. But this…”

He gestured back to the window, to the whales.

“Teaching,” he went on. “Ideally, inspiring. This is how I can help the world I love.”

“Aziraphale,” Crowley breathed.

“Yes, Crowley?”

“I have to tell you something.”

Worry immediately flooded Aziraphale. “What is it?”

Crowley turned his body away from the window in order to seize both of Aziraphale’s hands now. He let out a long, low breath before meeting Aziraphale’s eyes with his own.

He was terribly handsome.

“What is it?” Aziraphale asked again, the anxiety continuing to claw at his insides. This was it. At last, he’d been too much. 

“Here’s the situation,” Crowley began. “I want to kiss you really rather badly, but I can’t help thinking I’ll disrupt some of the flow of the date if I do it right now, do you know what I mean?”

_Oh._

“Would you mind terribly if I saved it for later?” Crowley finished, rubbing his thumbs softly over the tops of Aziraphale’s hands.

“Of course not,” Aziraphale whispered back.

“It’s just… you know, you still have to teach me about penguins.”

“Indeed.”

“And I don’t want to interrupt you.”

“Very thoughtful of you.”

“Okay,” Crowley smiled his lopsided smile. “Glad to have that covered.”

He lifted each of Aziraphale’s hands to his lips in turn and kissed them gently. Barely there. 

Aziraphale didn’t remember anything he said about the Giant Pacific Octopus or the Southern sea otters after that. 

***

(In fact, Aziraphale really only began to regain his composure as they turned the corner past the sea otters and started up a ramp to a new exhibit.)

“Penguins!” Crowley exclaimed. “Always liked these weirdos.”

“What do you like about them?” Aziraphale asked as they walked closer to the habitat which was, sure enough, full of waddling little black-and-white birds.

“Saw a documentary about them once,” Crowley crouched down to peer at the birds underwater. “They can’t fly, can they?”

“They cannot.”

“But they make it work anyway,” Crowley grinned as one of the penguins caught sight of his shiny watch and swam right up to him, following the movement of his wrist. “You don’t have to fly to be a good bird, do you, beautiful? No, not at all.”

“Do you know why they can’t fly?” Aziraphale ventured, battling down the desire to push Crowley to the floor and kiss him senseless. Now that kissing was at all on the table, Aziraphale was finding it harder and harder to focus on marine creatures.

“Something about bones, right?”

“Yes! Penguins have solid bones, whereas most birds have hollow bones. As you can see, they are excellent swimmers, though.”

“Yes, you are,” Crowley said to the little penguin still bobbing up and down right before him. 

Crowley tore himself away from his new avian friend and stood back up to his full height. Feeling a little daring, Aziraphale took the opportunity to loop his arm through Crowley’s and press their sides against one another. He let his head drift slightly to the side to brush against Crowley’s shoulder. Aziraphale had never been on a first date before that had felt so comfortable. Being around Crowley was natural and easy. Like perhaps this was where he belonged.

“What’s that?” Crowley pointed at what looked like two cylindrical bubbles emerging out of nowhere into the penguin habitat.

“Oh!” Aziraphale said. “That’s the penguin tunnel!”

“The penguin tunnel?”

“Look!”

Because, sure enough, a moment later, two human heads popped up in the bubbles, looking delighted and awestruck to be so close to the penguins. Crowley’s eyes widened as he looked down to their left to discover the small entrance to the tunnel. He turned sharply back to Aziraphale. Aziraphale cocked his head in confusion, but, before he could ask anything, he found himself being marched in the direction of the tunnel’s entrance.

“Oh, but Crowley!” Aziraphale protested. “You’re so tall!”

“Aziraphale,” Crowley said, plainly. “These are fucking penguins. I’ll crouch.”

And he did. 

Aziraphale laughed at the sight of this gangly man getting down on his hands and knees like a child and shuffling awkwardly through the penguin tunnel. Before he was very far, though, he turned over his shoulder and called back to Aziraphale:

“Well, come on!”

Aziraphale had never cared quite so little about looking frightfully ridiculous. He dropped to his knees and crawled into the tunnel behind Crowley. It was dark and cramped and terribly uncomfortable for an adult down there, but they made it work.

I mean, fucking penguins, right?

Aziraphale drew in a relieved breath of air as they surfaced together up into one of the penguin bubbles. The look of joy on Crowley’s face was something truly spectacular.

“We’re so close to them!” Crowley exclaimed gleefully as a rather scruffy-looking penguin wandered over to investigate their faces. “What’s wrong with this one?”

“He’s in the middle of molting, my dear,” Aziraphale answered. “He can’t get in the water right now, so I suspect he’s a little put out about things.”

Crowley nodded sympathetically, eyes still fixed on the penguin. “I get it, mate.”

They stood there for a long while in the little bubble, sometimes silently, sometimes with Crowley asking another penguin question and Aziraphale answering. Aziraphale hoped his heartbeat wasn’t as loud in this confined space as he thought it was. He felt he was going to burst out of his own chest. 

_Ridiculous,_ he admonished himself. _You’ve been holding hands all afternoon!_

But being in the penguin tunnel together was nearly like… being alone together. And recognizing that he wanted that was terrifying to Aziraphale. That he could already feel so much for and so closely to this practical stranger beside him.

“Thank you for coming back,” Aziraphale said suddenly.

“Well, thank you for inviting me back,” Crowley said, shifting his focus from the penguins to Aziraphale. He took a slight step forward, bringing their chests almost against one another. 

“And thank you for listening to me talk about dolphins and sea stars and-”

“Aziraphale, you don’t have to thank me for that,” Crowley interrupted him. “You don’t owe me any great gratitude here. I’m where I want to be, I promise.”

“Are you going to kiss me now?” Aziraphale whispered.

Crowley lifted a hand up to Aziraphale’s cheek. Aziraphale turned into the gesture, letting his eyes shut, doing everything in his power to savour this brilliant, lovely moment.

“Would you like me to kiss you now, Aziraphale?” Crowley asked, just as softly.

And the answer was emphatically “yes.” But Aziraphale kept his eyes closed for just a moment to think about it. To think through every single silly romantic daydream he’d ever had of sharing a special moment with a special person here at his favorite place.

“Not yet,” Aziraphale confessed.

Not yet. 

Crowley nodded. 

“You’ll know when,” Aziraphale dared.

Crowley grinned at that assessment.

“Oh, I will, will I?”

“I suspect you’ll be able to tell by my frantic blushing and stammering once we’re there,” Aziraphale confessed.

“Been doing a decent amount of that all day,” Crowley pointed out. “To be fair.”

“Yes, well,” Aziraphale shrugged. “You’re quite dashing.”

Crowley scoffed. “Yeah, says you, you impossibly gorgeous thing.”

And Aziraphale did blush and stammer then. 

To be fair. 

_Don't go, no, the night's not over_  
I just wanna get a little bit closer  
And I'll press you to the pages of my heart 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter wasn't too fact-heavy! Thanks so much for reading!


	7. centropyge flavissima

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Shall we see the otters?” Aziraphale asked, still a little flushed._
> 
> _“There are more otters?”_
> 
> _Aziraphale reached for Crowley’s hand. Let me show you every wonderful thing. Let me pull that wonder out of your voice every day, every hour._
> 
> _“I’ll show you,” Aziraphale said, pulling Crowley gently deeper into the exhibit._
> 
> or: In which we have two exhibits left to explore!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics from "Now That I Found You" by Carly Rae Jepsen!

_Waking up next to you, every morning  
How did we get this far?  
It came without a warning  
And in the night time, you tell me your whole life  
You and me get too real, but all I feel is alright_

As late afternoon faded into early evening, more and more contented patrons made their exit through the gift shop and out of the aquarium’s doors. By the time the final hours of daily operations rolled around, Aziraphale and Crowley found they had the entire place nearly to themselves. Not ready for the date to end, they took as much time as possible in exploring all the remaining animals and habitats. 

But there were just two exhibits remaining now. After their grand adventure with the penguins, they traipsed through the dim, dark freshwater exhibit. Aziraphale delighted in teaching Crowley all about the amazing archerfish and their ability to shoot a jet of water from their mouths to knock prey from the mangroves. Crowley seemed particularly fascinated by the eerily still albino alligators, perched on their rocks just out of the surface of the water.

“You sure they’re not just statues?” he asked, leaning forward to investigate the reptiles more closely.

“Positive,” Aziraphale smiled. “Cold-blooded creatures have much slower metabolisms than we do, so these fellows need to spend a lot of time conserving their energy.”

“I get it,” Crowley remarked, straightening his spine. 

“Are you cold-blooded yourself, dear?”

“Eh,” Crowley’s cheeks went a little red. “It’s been suggested a time or two.”

“Hmm,” Aziraphale mused. “Coming back just a day later to visit your new crush at work doesn’t seem very cold-blooded to me.”

“Yeah, well, don’t go telling everybody,” Crowley grumbled, blushing deeper. “Got a reputation to maintain.”

Aziraphale raised an eyebrow at that. “A reputation with whom, might I ask?”

“Well, my fellow reptiles for a start!” Crowley gestured emphatically to the still motionless gators. 

Aziraphale bent closer to the window himself now, whispering to the animals. “He’s quite gentle, you know. Positively kind and tender. No bite about him at all, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, you want bite, do you?” Crowley practically growled. “Because I can do bite, Aziraphale.”

It was Aziraphale’s turn to blush. He stood back up and turned to face Crowley who was now just about as red as his hair.

“Sorry,” Crowley hurried to get out. “Sorry. That was… fuck, that was weird, right?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Aziraphale could hardly bear to meet Crowley’s gaze as he said it. “But I rather like weird.”

“Fair,” Crowley breathed, looking more than a little relieved. “Me too.”

“I should hope so.”

(These idiots.)

“Shall we see the otters?” Aziraphale asked, still a little flushed.

“There are _more otters?_ ”

Aziraphale reached for Crowley’s hand. _Let me show you every wonderful thing. Let me pull that wonder out of your voice every day, every hour._

“I’ll show you,” Aziraphale said, pulling Crowley gently deeper into the exhibit.

Sure enough, past the cichlids, past the piranha, there they were. Three of them curled up into a little ball of smooth brown fur, collectively rising and falling with the soft breath of sleep. 

“Fuck, those are cute,” Crowley tightened his grip on Aziraphale’s hand as though the new cuteness levels were just too much to bear.

“Asian small-clawed otters,” Aziraphale said, always happy to share a new animal friend with his new human friend. “They’re the smallest of all the otter species.”

“I want to pick one up something fierce,” Crowley admitted.

Aziraphale squeezed Crowley’s hand back. ‘I’ll see what I can do, dear.”

“I like that,” Crowley mumbled.

“Like what?” Aziraphale wondered.

“You call me ‘dear,’” Crowley explained. “No one’s ever called me that before. It’s nice.”

He was bright red again, the confession burning him down to his toes. As the otters went on sleeping, Crowley tilted his face toward Aziraphale again.

“Do I get to kiss you yet?”

“So soon,” Aziraphale promised.

Finally, they wandered hand and hand into the tropical exhibit. They paused to take in the shy little garden eels, the beautiful and intimidating-looking lionfish, and the supremely alien jellies. (“Not jellyfish,” Aziraphale was eager to explain. “They’re not actually fish, you see.”) As they went to round the corner past the jellies, Aziraphale brought a hand up to Crowley’s shoulder to stop him.

“What is it?” Crowley asked.

“Are you ready?” Aziraphale looked up at him with those ever-changing, worried river-eyes.

Crowley nodded.

They turned the corner.

Crowley actually gasped.

Of all the wondrous, incredible things he’d seen so far today, nothing quite compared to this. It was an explosion of every color Crowley had ever seen in his entire life plus many he’d never yet encountered. There were fish of every shape and size swimming all across the vast window. At the sound of a wave crashing, Crowley looked up only to be astonished by the presence of an actual wave. 

“Where are we?” Crowley asked, hardly daring yet to step closer to the habitat.

“This is a Pacific barrier reef,” Aziraphale answered, his voice wobbling just a bit. “There are over ninety different species of fish and coral just in this habitat.”

“Do you know what they all are?” Crowley’s voice sounded terribly impressed.

Aziraphale wiggled a little, pleased. “Perhaps not every species…”

“Go on, then,” Crowley tugged them closer to the window. “What’s this one?”

“Well, that’s a pajama cardinalfish, my dear.”

“And that one?”

“That’s a palette surgeonfish.”

“Okay, what about this one with the big nose?”

Aziraphale grinned. “That one’s called a bignose unicornfish.”

Crowley shoved him playfully. “Fuck off, that is not what it’s actually called!”

“It is!”

And the last bits of daylight seemed to stream down through the top of the pool above them, illuminating each and every color of this tropical rainbow before them. A little bright yellow fish swam by them.

“What about this one?” Crowley asked.

Aziraphale sighed fondly. “This one is a lemonpeel angelfish.”

“An angelfish,” Crowley repeated.

Aziraphale nodded, smiling happily as he looked at the window. The fading sunlight caught the white of his brilliant hair and made him seem to practically glow as he stood there. Crowley’s heart caught in his throat as he looked at him. Aziraphale. This kind, gentle defender of all creatures, this excited narrator and guide of the natural world, this literal, actual…

Well, damn.

“An angelfish,” Crowley said again, recognizing what time it was.

“Mmm,” Aziraphale hummed, barely noticing as Crowley took a step behind him. Aziraphale gasped in surprise when he felt strong, trembling fingers ghost across his waist.

“Is this okay?” came Crowley’s voice, low and soft behind him.

“Oh,” Aziraphale managed, fighting down his embarrassment at the response. Perhaps sometimes things were just allowed to be awfully romantic, weren’t they? Aziraphale brought his own shaking fingers down to curl around Crowley’s and they stood there a moment longer, breathing together and staring at tropical fish.

“This has been one of the lovelier afternoons of my life,” Aziraphale said, eyes still fixed on the fiddler ray that swam above them.

“And of mine,” Crowley agreed, thumbs rubbing gently against Aziraphale’s sides now. 

“I quite hope we can do it again sometime,” Aziraphale stammered on. “I know about topics besides fish, you know.”

“Aziraphale.”

And Aziraphale could just feel the faintest warmth of Crowley’s breath on his neck now and he hoped his shivering wasn’t too obvious.

“Aziraphale,” Crowley said again like it was something marvelous to say. “I hope you know I don’t expect this every time. You can just be, angel.”

_Angel._

“But I want to impress you,” Aziraphale whispered.

Crowley turned him slowly, carefully in his arms, bringing one hand up to rest on the side of Aziraphale’s face. Aziraphale sighed at the touch.

“Aziraphale,” Crowley murmured. “I’m already impressed.”

“Please,” Aziraphale breathed. 

“Now?”

“Now.”

Aziraphale thought his heart might beat out of his chest. (Pardon the cliche, my dears, but I think sometimes we have them for a reason.) Crowley tucked a wayward curl behind Aziraphale’s ear, his eyes travelling all over Aziraphale’s face. Finally, he leaned forward just enough and closed the space between them, pressing his lips softly to Aziraphale’s own.

At first, Aziraphale didn’t know what to do wih his hands. He stood there, frozen and overwhelmed and thrilled and kissed so very very well. One of Crowley’s hands was still at his waist and the other had worked its way around the back of Aziraphale’s neck, encouraging him closer. Aziraphale knew he was still shaking, still shivering. Crowley must have felt it, because he backed away slightly, hands still gentle on Aziraphale’s body.

“What’s wrong, angel?” Crowley asked.

“I… I think I’m afraid I’ll ruin it, my dear,” Aziraphale admitted, unable to keep the truth to himself.

“Couldn’t,” Crowley shook his head. “Here.”

Crowley took Aziraphale’s hands in his.

“What do you want, Aziraphale?”

“Please,” Aziraphale managed again. “To… to touch you.”

Crowley nodded and brought Aziraphale’s hands up to his shoulders.

“Here?” he asked before releasing them.

“Yes,” Aziraphale said, fighting the all-out shudder threatening to course through his body.

“Okay,” Crowley said, taking his hands away and bringing them back to Aziraphale’s waist. As though they were about to begin a dance.

“Okay,” Aziraphale agreed, already feeling steader in Crowley’s embrace.

“I don’t want today to be over yet,” Crowley frowned.

“Nor do I.”

“Can I take you somewhere after this? Learn about you instead of about fish for a bit?”

“I’d like that. Dessert, maybe?”

“Dessert, definitely.”

Aziraphale stood on his toes to bridge their slight height difference, tilting his forehead forward to rest against Crowley’s. 

“Attention, everyone,” came the same loudspeaker voice from the night before. “The aquarium will be closing in fifteen minutes. Please make your way to the exit through the gift shop. Thank you!”

“Fifteen minutes, eh?” Crowley confirmed.

“Best make them count,” Aziraphale placed a quick peck on the tip of Crowley’s nose.

And so, with the promise of more time before them and the dappled light of the water falling all around them, Aziraphale and Crowley held one another and kissed until security finally wandered through the gallery to kick them out. 

_Thought it was impossible  
It's just like a miracle  
Say nothing's impossible now  
Now that I found, now that I found you  
Now that I found, now that I found you_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, time to take this first date outside the aquarium and see what else these boys have to discuss! Thank you so much for reading! I truly don't know yet where else this is going, but I promise we still have more cute animals ahead of us.
> 
> In case I don't update again before the holidays: I hope you have a wonderful, safe, and festive week!


	8. homo sapiens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys leave the aquarium, but their date isn't over by a long shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics from "Don't Worry, Baby" by the Beach Boys!

_Well it's been building up inside of me  
For oh, I don't know how long  
I don't know why  
But I keep thinking  
Something's bound to go wrong_

“Do you know what I find the saddest about _Romeo & Juliet?_” Aziraphale suddenly asked, hand twitching slightly on the fork in his grasp.

Crowley nearly choked on his coffee at the conversational pivot.

“All the… teenage suicide?” he guessed.

(Wait, what? How did we get here? How dare I rocket us ahead past dessert and straight into the delicate aftermath of crumbs and awkwardness?

Okay. Here’s what you missed:

_As instructed, Aziraphale and Crowley exited through the aquarium’s gift shop, holding hands and grinning like idiots. Crowley’s free hand twitched in his pocket, sorely tempted to purchase each and every stuffed animal in the shop for Aziraphale._

_Look, he was adorable and he deserved a fluffy sea otter friend, okay?_

_Okay._

_They stood together in the cool night air, neither one of them close to done._

_“Dessert?” Aziraphale needed to confirm._

_“Dessert,” Crowley squeezed Aziraphale’s hand._

_The getting-to-dessert logistics weren’t particularly interesting, to tell you the honest truth, so trust me that they got there. And that Crowley ordered a coffee, determined to never waste an iota of time on sleep now that Aziraphale was in his world. And that Aziraphale ordered some lovely midnight cake situation, determined to absorb every wonderful feeling and taste and texture he could on what was rapidly turning out to be one of the better nights of his life._

_And they talked. Of course they did. They talked more about the aquarium and the animals they had seen. They talked about Crowley’s catering job and how lately he was feeling a little too old (and cranky) to still be in that line of work. Aziraphale, of course, assured him otherwise._

_“What would you like to be doing instead?” Aziraphale wondered._

_“I used to be an alright gardener,” Crowley admitted, clinking a spoon against his mug. “Maybe you’ve figured it out, angel. Working with living creatures that aren’t human.”_

_They talked for a while about other things each one of them “used” to do. Isn’t that a strange melancholy on a first date when you’re a bit older? Introducing yourself to someone new means recounting all your past lives; each one you willingly forfeited as well as each one from which you were ejected before you thought your time was up._

_Aziraphale scraped up the remaining chocolate smears from his plate and Crowley requested a refill on coffee. And it was getting late and maybe they were running out of interesting, fabulous things to say, so:_ )

“Well… yes, of course,” Aziraphale smiled a little shyly. “But do you know what else makes me sad about _Romeo & Juliet?_”

“Tell me.”

“ _How is’t, my soul? Let’s talk; it is not day._ ” 

And Aziraphale did look sad as he recited the line. And Crowley wanted to reach across the diner table and take this strange man’s hand in his. And he realized he probably could, so, you know what, he fucking did. 

“Why does that make you sad, Aziraphale?”

“That’s the tragedy, isn’t it?” Aziraphale’s eyes were looking down now at their joined hands. “They never got to talk, did they?”

“Are you alright, Aziraphale?” Crowley asked gently. 

“I suppose I’m worried of running out of things to say,” Aziraphale answered, finally lifting his gaze to Crowley’s. “And that feels like a selfish worry to me, because I’ve already had the chance to say so many things to you.”

Crowley began to rub circles with his thumb into the flesh of Aziraphale’s hand.

“And I’m worried that this day has been something out of a strange and wonderful dream,” Aziraphale continued. “But maybe I’ve only a day’s worth of strange and wonderful things to say.”

Crowley fought the urge to snort his disbelief, correctly assuming it wouldn’t be a terribly smooth move in this context. “Aziraphale, I refuse to believe you’ve only a day’s worth of strange and wonderful stored in you.”

Aziraphale laughed at that, a halting nervous thing. He leaned forward and brought Crowley’s hand to his lips, pressing a soft, wobbly kiss there. 

“What if I’m rubbish without water around?” Aziraphale joked.

“Oh,” Crowley leaned forward himself now as a rather fabulous idea took root in his head. “That I can do something about.”

***

It was probably close to midnight when they made it to Crowley’s apartment complex. (Again, the logistics were pretty boring, so forgive me for skipping them. They did leave an excellent tip at the diner.)

“Will this do?” Crowley gestured through the silent apartment gate.

“Crowley,” Aziraphale breathed. “Won’t we get in trouble?”

“Nah, nobody checks,” Crowley assured Aziraphale as he pushed through the gate as quietly as he could. “Besides, this is just until we get our dating land-legs. ‘Land-legs.’ That’s an expression, right?”

It was really pretty beautiful, for an apartment complex swimming pool. There were two levels with a little waterfall thing connecting them. The lights illuminating the concrete walkways around the water gave the silent, untouched surface of the pool an ethereal sort of quality. 

Without any more preamble (he wanted to make the most of his bravery while he still had it), Crowley brought his hands to the hem of his borrowed jelly shirt.

“This okay, angel?” he asked.

And there was a blush- even in the darkness- and a swallow and then a nod. Crowley nodded back and pulled the shirt over his head.

“Oh,” Aziraphale breathed. “You’re rather lovely.”

“Ngk,” Crowley replied (you knew he would), hopping out of his shoes and peeling away his jeans before he lost his nerve.

So, there he stood. Clad only in boxer briefs and moonlight, looking straight ahead at a man he’d known for a day and some change.

And I wish I could explain the next bit, really I do. They stared at one another and Aziraphale read some sort of determination in Crowley’s eyes that made him want to be as daring himself. Aziraphale’s undressing went more slowly than Crowley’s had, but only because Aziraphale couldn’t tear his eyes away from Crowley. 

_We are doing this. We are going to break a rule together and it will be a thing that will have always happened. I welcome you into my story as you have welcomed me into yours. Stay. Please._

Aziraphale shivered a little and Crowley stepped forward to wrap his arms around him. Aziraphale let himself be held, let someone beautiful take their time being soft and unhurried with him.

“You don’t ever have to tell me another animal fact again,” Crowley murmured. “I promise.”

Aziraphale believed him, which is the bravest thing of all. 

_My caring for you is non-transactional. Let me watch you eat cake in total silence. It’s fine. It’s glorious even._

They pulled apart and went to the prickly ground at the edge of the pool. And I think the moon herself was alert and watching and protecting them as they carefully- on the count of 3- slipped into the cool water. And they held their breath for as long as they could, regarding the other one for a moment in his sea creature form, all billowing hair and blurred edges. And Crowley, never having considered himself one for poetry before now, sincerely wondered what it would be like to retreat to the bottom of the sea with this gorgeous, golden merperson before him; to bring him shells and stories from the sand.

When they surfaced for air, it was with a laugh for each of them. At the absurdity of being two grown near-strangers breaking into a private pool at midnight. At their odd origin story. At the joy and wonder of what might happen next.

(if I may: but also, is there anything sexier than a nighttime pool that you shouldn’t be at?)

Aziraphale swam forward, closing the distance between the two of them, and let his siren ancestors take over his actions, his beating heart. He wrapped his legs around Crowley’s waist and brought his hands up to that sharp, devastating face, tilting it exactly as he wanted, bringing their lips together. Crowley wrapped his long arms around Aziraphale’s waist and kissed him like buried treasure.

_I can’t believe I found you._

**epilogue, i think:**

And there would be more time spent at the aquarium together in the future. (Aziraphale had barely discussed the little cownose rays, after all.) And I think Crowley was inspired to return to his (pardon me) gardening roots. And I think it was like all these stories, really. I think they inspired each other and made each other better. 

And we’ll keep putting them in these places. Aquariums and coffee shops and wherever we like. Because this is a collective love song to which none of us knew the words when we got started and yet here we still are pulling them from our hearts like starstuff. 

It is an honor to share this language with you. 

Make them kiss wherever damn well please.

This story is over, but there are so many more and what a joy that is to consider.

_But he looks in my eyes  
And makes me realize  
And he says "don't worry, baby"  
Don't worry, baby  
Don't worry, baby  
Everything will turn out alright_

(I really think it will.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this little story! It didn't really end how I expected, but maybe that's okay. 
> 
> You're doing so super good.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah! Thanks so much for reading! This is sort of my aquarium companion piece to "in the reptile house," I suppose. The days are getting darker and colder, and I needed some more animal-related fluff in my life. Thanks for going on this journey with me!


End file.
